Jul 4

Matthew 5:17-18
Memorise Matthew 5:18
“I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil”

During Jesus’ ministry on earth, there were many scribes and Pharisees who opposed the things that He was doing. His love, compassion and focus on sin and repentance was in stark contrast to the proud, hypocritical self-professed righteousness of the Pharisees. They were legalistic, whilst Christ showed grace and mercy. They were so concerned with keeping the letter of the law and fulfilling the myriad of other teachings that they had added to the law that they lost sight of what the purpose of the law was in the first place. Thus, they became jealous of and angry at the popularity of Jesus, and often sought occasions to accuse him of breaking the law.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sought to correct all these misconceptions and to assert what his view of the OT law was. He clearly declared that He was certainly not here to do away with the ‘law or the prophets’ (a phrase often used to refer to the whole of the Old Testament), but that He had come to fulfil it perfectly. He did so both through the fulfilment of many prophecies pertaining to His birth, life, death and resurrection, and also through His perfect obedience to the law whilst  He was on earth. In so doing, He showed the prime importance of the Old Testament. It was certainly not a document to be cast aside, since it establishes the standards that God has set for His people.

Furthermore, Jesus made a wonderful and astonishing assertion, that until heaven and earth passes away, that is to say until the end of the world is come, not one single jot nor tittle will pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. What Jesus meant was that God’s Word in its entirety, down to the very last tiny detail of each word, will most certainly be preserved through the ages. At this juncture the New Testament had not been written yet, so He must have been referring to the Old Testament. He confidently stated that these writings of the law and the prophets will certainly be fulfilled to the letter, and so it was a document that would be of great use and blessing to the church through the ages! You and I must regard the OT as such.

Thought: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven”.
Prayer: Thank you Lord, for preserving Your Word and making it available to us.